


Night is the Time for Surprises

by sladeninstitute



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-26
Updated: 2013-10-26
Packaged: 2017-12-30 14:05:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1019518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sladeninstitute/pseuds/sladeninstitute
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bones had painstakingly planned this trip for months, but Jim decided to throw in a bit of spontaneity. In his defence, it worked out well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Night is the Time for Surprises

**Author's Note:**

  * For [slashsailing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/slashsailing/gifts).



> Based on this prompt from the ever-lovely [slashsailing](http://archiveofourown.org/users/slashsailing): _"Okay here’s me being a bad influence! I would like something fluffy. Maybe a marriage proposal?"_

"Bones, wake up." Jim shook the shoulder of his boyfriend, standing over the side of the bed to reach him.

"Go 'way." came Bones' muffled response, his face still buried under a sea of blankets and pillows. Jim rolled his eyes and impatiently tapped his foot on the floor, figuring that he should've known that Bones wasn't going to be cooperative.

"This is important." Jim leaned over the bed to kiss the small tuft of Bones' hair that he could see. In all fairness, it was hard to see shit. It was closing in on 00:00 and the moon was high in the sky, but that didn't mean shit for the visibility in their bedroom.

" _Jiiiiiim_." The older man flopped over onto his side, eyes still closed. Jim knew he was winning, that Bones would be up with just a little bit more prodding.

"Please get up. For me.  _Please?_ " He made his voice sound as innocent as possible, not wanting to give away the surprise. "I got something I wanna show you, but you have to get up for me."

With several grumbles and a few choice swear words, McCoy opened up his eyes. He blinked blearily up at his boyfriend, wondering why in the hell Jim had chosen to wake him up at such an ungodly hour. They had places to be in the morning, for Christ's sakes! Jim knew the itinerary by heart, having seen it in several varying forms for months before they ever stepped foot off the _Enterprise_. Regardless, that didn't stop him from slipping in this one little detour into the trip that Bones had painstakingly planned. He was almost certain that Bones wouldn't mind once the nature of the surprise was revealed to him, but that didn't quite quell the few nervous butterflies that'd taken root in his stomach.

"Go get dressed." Jim gave Bones the once over, pausing to look at just how great of a chest his doctor boyfriend had. "Or..at least put on pants. You can go shirtless if you want." People had been proposed to with no shirt on before, right? He reached over to flick on the bedside light, giving Bones the visibility to move around and get dressed without accidentally falling and breaking his neck.

Bones did as he was told, sliding out of the bed and stumbling across their room to the closet. Jim watched with great interest as Bones pulled on a pair of ratty jeans that'd obviously seen better days, and held back a sigh of disappointment as he pulled on a blue and black striped sweater. Turned around and facing him now, Bones shrugged his shoulders.

"You got me outta bed, now can we please get this over with?" Jim couldn't contain his smirk. Even grumpy, Bones looked good. One hand in his pocket and fiddling with the box that held the ring, the other reaching out to grab Bones', Jim nodded. Of course they could go ahead and get it over with. He led Bones out of the room and down the stairs, flipping on the porch light as they stepped into the night air. Georgia was hell during the day, all hot and humid. Night was completely different, cooler and slightly damp, but never unbearable like the day.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky as Jim led Bones across the street and to the lone tree that stood tall and proud in the centre of the empty field. He couldn't swear to it, but he thought he'd heard Bones tell him once that the field belonged to his grandmother, so there was a slim chance of them getting run off by someone accusing them of trespassing. Jim looked up to the stars, trying to pinpoint where he'd been born so many years ago. It was a nervous habit. Whenever he was in need of an extra boost of confidence or just something to believe in, Jim would look up at the night sky and think about how that was where he was born, how that was where he belonged. He hoped that maybe that small pinpoint of light would give him some semblance of luck tonight.

"Jim?" Bones' voice cut right through Jim's thoughts and forced him to snap out of his daze. "You dragged me out here and sat me down under this tree, but you ain't said a damn word. What is it that you've got to show me?" He didn't sound angry, just tired and ready to get on with whatever this was.

"Bones..." Jim turned back to look at his boyfriend, voice soft. He was still standing, gazing down at the man who would (hopefully) be his fiance. "We've been together for a long time. Since the Academy. You threatened to throw up on me and somehow those weird, _weird_ words sparked this entire relationship. You're my best friend, my boyfriend, the person I can turn to in time of need, and I just wanted to know if maybe...you...if we could..." He dropped down on one knee, fishing the box out of his pocket and popping it open.

"Leonard Horatio McCoy, will you marry me?" Jim had the brightest smile in the universe plastered on his face, his eyes shifting back and forth between the ring and Bones' face.

"Jim, I -" Now, if he didn't know better, he'd say that the look in Bones' eyes resembled panic. As much as it hurt, he couldn't blame him. He knew all about the marital problems Bones had encountered with Jocelyn, and it would be no small surprise if Bones didn't want to get married again. Jim's smile dropped, replaced by a look of utter shame.

 _You stupid fuck. You knew all about what happened with Jocelyn, how Bones is about marriage, and yet you tried to force this on him? Not only is there no chance that you're going to get married, but Bones is probably going to leave you. Why wouldn't he?_ Jim could've beaten himself up for the better part of the rest of his life, if his thoughts hadn't been interrupted (again) by Bones's voice.

"Yeah. Yeah, we can do that. We can get married." Bones was smiling, no trace of the hesitance that'd been obvious only moments before.

"You're sure? I'm not forcing you into anything?" As it seemed, the hesitance had forced itself into Jim's voice, but Bones didn't seem to mind. He shook his head, the smile still wide on his face.

"Nah. I want this. You want this. Let's do it, Jim. Let's get married!"

Jim's face was a portrait of relief. He fumbled around with the box in his hand, pulling out the ring and moving to slip it onto Bones's finger.

"I'm sorry that it's not very flashy or anything. Turns out that there isn't much that I can afford, even with a captain's sala--" Jim was cut off by the sensation of Bones's tongue in his mouth, silencing all comments in a short burst of kissing. Bones was grinning when he pulled away.

"I think it's a fine ring. It doesn't really matter as long as I'm gettin' married to you. And uh, I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anythin', but can we go back inside? Your proposal doesn't change the fact that we've got places to be in the mornin' and I'd really like to get some sleep."

Jim laughed. "Yeah. I think we can do that."


End file.
